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New Indian Express
3 hours ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Bill Moyers, the former White House press secretary turned acclaimed TV journalist, dead at 91
NEW YORK: Bill Moyers, the former White House press secretary who became one of television's most honored journalists, masterfully using a visual medium to illuminate a world of ideas, died Thursday at age 91. Moyers died in a New York City hospital, according to longtime friend Tom Johnson, the former CEO of CNN and an assistant to Moyers during Lyndon B. Johnson's administration. Moyers' son William said his father died at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York after a 'long illness.' Moyers' career ranged from youthful Baptist minister to deputy director of the Peace Corps, from Johnson's press secretary to newspaper publisher, senior news analyst for 'The CBS Evening News' and chief correspondent for 'CBS Reports.' But it was for public television that Moyers produced some of TV's most cerebral and provocative series. In hundreds of hours of PBS programs, he proved at home with subjects ranging from government corruption to modern dance, from drug addiction to media consolidation, from religion to environmental abuse. In 1988, Moyers produced 'The Secret Government' about the Iran-Contra scandal during the Reagan administration and simultaneously published a book under the same name. Around that time, he galvanized viewers with 'Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth,' a series of six one-hour interviews with the prominent religious scholar. The accompanying book became a best-seller. His televised chats with poet Robert Bly almost single-handedly launched the 1990s Men's Movement, and his 1993 series 'Healing and the Mind' had a profound impact on the medical community and on medical education. In a medium that supposedly abhors 'talking heads' — shots of subject and interviewer talking — Moyers came to specialize in just that. He once explained why: 'The question is, are the talking heads thinking minds and thinking people? Are they interesting to watch? I think the most fascinating production value is the human face.'
The Hill
6 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Bill Moyers, former WH press secretary and acclaimed journalist, dead at 91
Former White House press secretary Bill Moyers died on Thursday at the age of 91 after a 'long illness.' His death was confirmed by Tom Johnson, CNN's former CEO and close friend, according to the Associated Press. Moyers served under former President Lyndon B. Johnson, where he helped create the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and eventually curated informational programming for PBS. Prior to his role at the White House, Moyers helped bolster the Peace Corps as its first associate director of public affairs. 'We knew from the beginning that the Peace Corps was not an agency, program, or mission. Now we know—from those who lived and died for it—that it is a way of being in the world,' he wrote of the government agency in an article reflecting on its success. After years of service in the federal government, Moyers was hired to be a senior news analyst for 'The CBS Evening News' and chief correspondent for 'CBS Reports.' For his lifetime of work, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame and earned 30 Emmys, 11 George Foster Peabody awards and three George Polks, in addition to two awards for career excellence in broadcast journalism by Columbia University, per AP. Moyers was also the acclaimed producer of 'The Secret Government,' which spotlighted the Iran-Contra scandal. The 1988 film followed his realtime commentary on U.S. foreign relations with Iran. Forty-four years ago, Moyers hosted an episode of 'Bill Moyers Journal' where he discussed Operation Opera, a United Nations resolution condemning the 1981 Israeli bombing of Iraq's nuclear facility and Iran's political massacres with reflections on its historical impact. 'As are all such events, this one was made of many parts. There was reality two realities actually: Iran's and ours. And there was also the perception of reality, again from two viewpoints: theirs and ours,' Moyers said during the June 19, 1981 show. 'The perceptions became so beclouded that reality drifted out of focus, the way your own image does in one of those tricky reflecting mirrors at the circus. In this final edition of my Journal, we'll consider how such flawed perceptions contributed to the crisis.'
Politico
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Politico
Bill Moyers, the former White House press secretary turned acclaimed TV journalist, dead at 91
NEW YORK — Bill Moyers, the former White House press secretary who became one of television's most honored journalists, masterfully using a visual medium to illuminate a world of ideas, died Thursday at age 91. Moyers died in a New York City hospital, according to longtime friend Tom Johnson, the former CEO of CNN and an assistant to Moyers during Lyndon B. Johnson's administration. Moyers' son William said his father died at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York after a 'long illness.' Moyers' career ranged from youthful Baptist minister to deputy director of the Peace Corps, from Johnson's press secretary to newspaper publisher, senior news analyst for 'The CBS Evening News' and chief correspondent for 'CBS Reports.' But it was for public television that Moyers produced some of TV's most cerebral and provocative series. In hundreds of hours of PBS programs, he proved at home with subjects ranging from government corruption to modern dance, from drug addiction to media consolidation, from religion to environmental abuse. In 1988, Moyers produced 'The Secret Government' about the Iran-Contra scandal during the Reagan administration and simultaneously published a book under the same name. Around that time, he galvanized viewers with 'Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth,' a series of six one-hour interviews with the prominent religious scholar. The accompanying book became a bestseller. His televised chats with poet Robert Bly almost single-handedly launched the 1990s Men's Movement, and his 1993 series 'Healing and the Mind' had a profound impact on the medical community and on medical education. In a medium that supposedly abhors 'talking heads' — shots of subject and interviewer talking — Moyers came to specialize in just that. He once explained why: 'The question is, are the talking heads thinking minds and thinking people? Are they interesting to watch? I think the most fascinating production value is the human face.' (Softly) speaking truth to power: Demonstrating what someone called 'a soft, probing style' in the native Texas accent he never lost, Moyers was a humanist who investigated the world with a calm, reasoned perspective, whatever the subject. From some quarters, he was blasted as a liberal thanks to his links with Johnson and public television, as well as his no-holds-barred approach to investigative journalism. It was a label he didn't necessarily deny. 'I'm an old-fashion liberal when it comes to being open and being interested in other people's ideas,' he said during a 2004 radio interview. But Moyers preferred to term himself a 'citizen journalist' operating independently, outside the establishment. Public television (and his self-financed production company) gave him free rein to throw 'the conversation of democracy open to all comers,' he said in a 2007 interview with The Associated Press. 'I think my peers in commercial television are talented and devoted journalists,' he said another time, 'but they've chosen to work in a corporate mainstream that trims their talent to fit the corporate nature of American life. And you do not get rewarded for telling the hard truths about America in a profit-seeking environment.' Over the years, Moyers was showered with honors, including more than 30 Emmys, 11 George Foster Peabody awards, three George Polks and, twice, the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Gold Baton Award for career excellence in broadcast journalism. In 1995, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. From sports to sports writing: Born in Hugo, Oklahoma, on June 5, 1934, Billy Don Moyers was the son of a dirt farmer-truck driver who soon moved his family to Marshall, Texas. High school led him into journalism. 'I wanted to play football, but I was too small. But I found that by writing sports in the school newspaper, the players were always waiting around at the newsstand to see what I wrote,' he recalled. He worked for the Marshall News Messenger at age 16. Deciding that Bill Moyers was a more appropriate byline for a sportswriter, he dropped the 'y' from his name. He graduated from the University of Texas and earned a master's in divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He was ordained and preached part time at two churches but later decided his call to the ministry 'was a wrong number.' His relationship with Johnson began when he was in college; he wrote the then-senator offering to work in his 1954 reelection campaign. Johnson was impressed and hired him for a summer job. He was back in Johnson's employ as a personal assistant in the early 1960s and for two years, he worked at the Peace Corps, eventually becoming deputy director. On the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Moyers was in Austin helping with the presidential trip. He flew back to Washington on Air Force One with newly sworn-in President Johnson, for whom he held various jobs over the ensuing years, including press secretary. Moyers' stint as presidential press secretary was marked by efforts to mend the deteriorating relationship between Johnson and the media. But the Vietnam war took its toll and Moyers resigned in December 1966. Of his departure from the White House, he wrote later, 'We had become a war government, not a reform government, and there was no creative role left for me under those circumstances.' He conceded that he may have been 'too zealous in my defense of our policies' and said he regretted criticizing journalists such as Pulitzer Prize-winner Peter Arnett, then a special correspondent with the AP, and CBS' Morley Safer for their war coverage. A long run on television: In 1967, Moyers became publisher of Long Island-based Newsday and concentrated on adding news analyses, investigative pieces and lively features. Within three years, the suburban daily had won two Pulitzers. He left the paper in 1970 after the ownership changed. That summer, he traveled 13,000 miles around the country and wrote a bestselling account of his odyssey: 'Listening to America: a Traveler Rediscovers His Country.' His next venture was in public television and he won critical acclaim for 'Bill Moyers Journal,' a series in which interviews ranged from Gunnar Myrdal, the Swedish economist, to poet Maya Angelou. He was chief correspondent of 'CBS Reports' from 1976 to 1978, went back to PBS for three years, and then was senior news analyst for CBS from 1981 to 1986. When CBS cut back on documentaries, he returned to PBS for much less money. 'If you have a skill that you can fold with your tent and go wherever you feel you have to go, you can follow your heart's desire,' he once said. Then in 1986, he and his wife, Judith Davidson Moyers, became their own bosses by forming Public Affairs Television, an independent shop that has not only produced programs such as the 10-hour 'In Search of the Constitution,' but also paid for them through its own fundraising efforts. His projects in the 21st century included 'Now,' a weekly PBS public affairs program; a new edition of 'Bill Moyers Journal' and a podcast covering racism, voting rights and the rise of Donald Trump, among other subjects. Moyers married Judith Davidson, a college classmate, in 1954, and they raised three children, among them the author Suzanne Moyers and author-TV producer William Cope Moyers. Judith eventually became her husband's partner, creative collaborator and president of their production company.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill Moyers, LBJ White House press secretary and legendary journalist, dead at 91
Former White House Press Secretary and famed broadcast journalist Bill Moyers has died at the age of 91. Moyers died on Thurday at a hospital in New York, his assistant, Tom Johnson, told the Associated Press. His son, William Moyers, said his father's death came after a "long illness." During his career, Moyers worked as a Baptist minister and was later named the deputy director of the Peace Corps. He served as the White House Press Secretary for Lyndon B. Johnson and later became a senior analyst for The CBS Evening News and a chief correspondent on CBS Reports. Moyers' most well-known work was created for PBS. He produced hundreds of hours of programming that covered topics like government corruption, drug addiction, and religious and environmental abuse. In the late 80's, Moyers produced "Joseph Campbell and Power of Myth," which was a series of six one-hour interview with the religious scholar whose work probed, in party, how humans use and understand stories. He produced a best-selling book based on the discussions. He also produced "The Secret Government" around the same time, which dove into the Iran-Contra scandal. His work helped to shape movements and policies. In 1993, his series "Healing and the Mind" was influential on the medical community and on medical education. While Moyers considered himself an "old-fashioned liberal" during a 2004 radio interview, he preferred to describe himself as a "citizen journalist" working outside the bounds of a strictly black and white ideological framework. In 2007, he told the Associated Press that public radio allowed him the freedom to throw "the conversation of democracy open to all comers." While he appreciated the skill of his colleagues in commercial media, he also saw the flaws of a profit-seeking business model on the practice of journalism. 'I think my peers in commercial television are talented and devoted journalists,' he said during one interview, 'but they've chosen to work in a corporate mainstream that trims their talent to fit the corporate nature of American life. And you do not get rewarded for telling the hard truths about America in a profit-seeking environment.' During his career, Moyers won 30 Emmys, 11 George Foster Peabody awards, three George Polk awards, and the Alfred I duPont-Columbia University Gold Baton Aware for career excellence in broadcast journalism twice. He was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1995. Moyers, born in Hugo, Oklahoma on June 5, 1934, got his start in journalism writing about sports. He had wanted to play football, but said he was too small, so he wrote about it instead for his school's newspaper. He started his working career in journalism at age 16 for the Marshall News Messenger. He joined Johnson's campaign in 1954 after writing to the then-senator asking if he could work for his campaign. He was hired for the summer, and returned as a personal assistant in the early 1960s before heading the Peace Corps for two years, where he eventually held a top leadership role. He served as White House press secretary from July 8 1965 to February 1 1967. In 1986, he and his wife, Judith Davidson Moyers, started their own production company called Public Affairs Television. This allowed him the freedom to pursue projects he cared about, regardless of their potential profitability.
CNBC
8 hours ago
- Politics
- CNBC
Bill Moyers, the former White House press secretary turned acclaimed TV journalist, dead at 91
Bill Moyers, the former White House press secretary who became one of television's most honored journalists, masterfully using a visual medium to illuminate a world of ideas, died Thursday at age 91. Moyers died in a New York City hospital, according to longtime friend Tom Johnson, the former CEO of CNN and an assistant to Moyers during Lyndon B. Johnson's administration. Moyers' son William said his father died at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York after a "long illness." Moyers' career ranged from youthful Baptist minister to deputy director of the Peace Corps, from Johnson's press secretary to newspaper publisher, senior news analyst for "The CBS Evening News" and chief correspondent for "CBS Reports." But it was for public television that Moyers produced some of TV's most cerebral and provocative series. In hundreds of hours of PBS programs, he proved at home with subjects ranging from government corruption to modern dance, from drug addiction to media consolidation, from religion to environmental abuse. In 1988, Moyers produced "The Secret Government" about the Iran-Contra scandal during the Reagan administration and simultaneously published a book under the same name. Around that time, he galvanized viewers with "Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth," a series of six one-hour interviews with the prominent religious scholar. The accompanying book became a best-seller. His televised chats with poet Robert Bly almost single-handedly launched the 1990s Men's Movement, and his 1993 series "Healing and the Mind" had a profound impact on the medical community and on medical education. In a medium that supposedly abhors "talking heads" — shots of subject and interviewer talking — Moyers came to specialize in just that. He once explained why: "The question is, are the talking heads thinking minds and thinking people? Are they interesting to watch? I think the most fascinating production value is the human face." Demonstrating what someone called "a soft, probing style" in the native Texas accent he never lost, Moyers was a humanist who investigated the world with a calm, reasoned perspective, whatever the subject. From some quarters, he was blasted as a liberal thanks to his links with Johnson and public television, as well as his no-holds-barred approach to investigative journalism. It was a label he didn't necessarily deny. "I'm an old-fashion liberal when it comes to being open and being interested in other people's ideas," he said during a 2004 radio interview. But Moyers preferred to term himself a "citizen journalist" operating independently, outside the establishment. Public television (and his self-financed production company) gave him free rein to throw "the conversation of democracy open to all comers," he said in a 2007 interview with The Associated Press. "I think my peers in commercial television are talented and devoted journalists," he said another time, "but they've chosen to work in a corporate mainstream that trims their talent to fit the corporate nature of American life. And you do not get rewarded for telling the hard truths about America in a profit-seeking environment." Over the years, Moyers was showered with honors, including more than 30 Emmys, 11 George Foster Peabody awards, three George Polks and, twice, the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Gold Baton Award for career excellence in broadcast journalism. In 1995, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. Born in Hugo, Oklahoma, on June 5, 1934, Billy Don Moyers was the son of a dirt farmer-truck driver who soon moved his family to Marshall, Texas. High school led him into journalism. "I wanted to play football, but I was too small. But I found that by writing sports in the school newspaper, the players were always waiting around at the newsstand to see what I wrote," he recalled. He worked for the Marshall News Messenger at age 16. Deciding that Bill Moyers was a more appropriate byline for a sportswriter, he dropped the "y" from his name. He graduated from the University of Texas and earned a master's in divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He was ordained and preached part time at two churches but later decided his call to the ministry "was a wrong number." His relationship with Johnson began when he was in college; he wrote the then-senator offering to work in his 1954 re-election campaign. Johnson was impressed and hired him for a summer job. He was back in Johnson's employ as a personal assistant in the early 1960s and for two years, he worked at the Peace Corps, eventually becoming deputy director. On the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Moyers was in Austin helping with the presidential trip. He flew back to Washington on Air Force One with newly sworn-in President Johnson, for whom he held various jobs over the ensuing years, including press secretary. Moyers' stint as presidential press secretary was marked by efforts to mend the deteriorating relationship between Johnson and the media. But the Vietnam war took its toll and Moyers resigned in December 1966. Of his departure from the White House, he wrote later, "We had become a war government, not a reform government, and there was no creative role left for me under those circumstances." He conceded that he may have been "too zealous in my defense of our policies" and said he regretted criticizing journalists such as Pulitzer Prize-winner Peter Arnett, then a special correspondent with the AP, and CBS's Morley Safer for their war coverage. In 1967, Moyers became publisher of Long Island-based Newsday and concentrated on adding news analyses, investigative pieces and lively features. Within three years, the suburban daily had won two Pulitzers. He left the paper in 1970 after the ownership changed. That summer, he traveled 13,000 miles around the country and wrote a best-selling account of his odyssey: "Listening to America: a Traveler Rediscovers His Country." His next venture was in public television and he won critical acclaim for "Bill Moyers Journal," a series in which interviews ranged from Gunnar Myrdal, the Swedish economist, to poet Maya Angelou. He was chief correspondent of "CBS Reports" from 1976 to 1978, went back to PBS for three years, and then was senior news analyst for CBS from 1981 to 1986. When CBS cut back on documentaries, he returned to PBS for much less money. "If you have a skill that you can fold with your tent and go wherever you feel you have to go, you can follow your heart's desire," he once said. Then in 1986, he and his wife, Judith Davidson Moyers, became their own bosses by forming Public Affairs Television, an independent shop that has not only produced programs such as the 10-hour "In Search of the Constitution," but also paid for them through its own fundraising efforts. His projects in the 21st century included "Now," a weekly PBS public affairs program; a new edition of "Bill Moyers Journal" and a podcast covering racism, voting rights and the rise of Donald Trump, among other subjects. Moyers married Judith Davidson, a college classmate, in 1954, and they raised three children, among them the author Suzanne Moyers and author-TV producer William Cope Moyers. Judith eventually became her husband's partner, creative collaborator and president of their production company.
